Page 24 - The American Lawyer Trailblazers - South 2022

Washington, D.C.

Jeannie S. Rhee

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

What was the genesis of the idea/path that has made you a trailblazer?
Earlier in my career, I had a great run as a federal prosecutor in D.C. working on public corruption and national
security cases, then the great fortune of being a political deputy at DOJ working on similar issues as a more senior
advisor. Those experiences were invaluable when I was tapped to join Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investiga-
tion and lead the team that built the cases on Russian cyber, social media and intelligence efforts to influence the
2016 election.
Today, I have the privilege of seeking to bring wrongdoers to justice in private practice: On behalf of our client,
D.C.’s historic Metropolitan AME Church, we sued the all-male white nationalist group the Proud Boys in one of the
first lawsuits aiming to hold them financially accountable for racist violence in the run-up to January 6.
What sort of change has resulted from the concept?
Our team found extensive evidence of Russian efforts to interfere in our election. We secured two Russia-related
indictments, the prosecution of Trump associate Roger Stone, and the guilty pleas of attorney Michael Cohen,
campaign advisor George Papadopoulos and campaign manager Paul Manafort.
In our case on behalf of the church, we secured an entry of default against the Proud Boys and got their leader,
Enrique Tarrio, to make his first court appearance in our continuing efforts to hold the defendants financially
accountable.
What bearing will this have on the future?
The revelations around Russia’s election interference highlighted gaps in the U.S. government’s ability to defend
against cyberattacks and internet disinformation.
The default entry against the Proud Boys demonstrated that perpetrators of hate-fueled violence can be held
civilly accountable for their actions. The hope is that this will help deter such abhorrent behavior.

Nicole Saharsky

Mayer Brown

What was the genesis of the idea/path that has made you a trailblazer?
Throughout my legal career, I have sought to do justice and ensure equal opportunities. Most recently, I was the
lead appellate lawyer for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team in their equal-pay case against the U.S. Soccer
Federation. U.S. Soccer had refused to pay the women equally to the players on the men’s team – even though
the women were more successful than the men and brought in greater revenues than the men. After the district
court ruled against the women, I was hired to lead the charge on appeal. We filed powerful briefs and obtained
wide-ranging amicus support for our position, making the case that U.S. Soccer’s position clearly violated federal
law. Just before the scheduled appellate argument, U.S. Soccer decided it was no longer willing to continue the
fight. We obtained a landmark settlement of $24 million in back pay and equal pay going forward for all games
and tournaments.

What sort of change has resulted from the concept?
The settlement achieved by the U.S. Women’s National Team marked the first commitment from a major U.S. sports
federation to pay female and male athletes equally. Further, it has inspired the women on other national soccer
teams to fight for equal pay. More broadly, the litigation and settlement in our case has inspired other women and
girls to speak out about unequal treatment and to fight for equal pay.

What bearing will this have on the future?
For the players on the Women’s National Team, this is a real turning point. Since the team was founded in 1985,
U.S. Soccer had never paid the women and men equally. In the settlement, U.S. Soccer finally agreed to equal pay
for the future.
I’m hopeful that this case will inspire others across the nation—and the world—to continue to fight for equality.

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